Prevalence and causes of decreased visual acuity in Singaporean Chinese preschoolers

Abstract

The prevalence of decreased VA among Singaporean Chinese preschoolers is low, with uncorrected refractive error being the main cause in both children 30-47 and 48-72 months.

Prevalence and causes of reduced visual acuity among children aged three to six years in a metropolis in China

“…Second, this may be a chance finding as the sample size was small in children aged 3 years compared with those aged four to 6 years ( Table ). The gender pattern of reduced VA in this study was consistent with previous studies with a non‐significant difference observed between boys and girls …”

“…To the best of our knowledge, the prevalence of reduced VA among preschoolers has been reported in several landmark epidemiological studies including the Multi‐Ethnic Pediatric Eye Disease Study (MEPEDS, United States), the Sydney Pediatric Eye Disease Study (SPEDS, Australia), the Baltimore Pediatric Eye Disease Study (BPEDS, United States) and the Strabismus, Amblyopia, and Refractive Error in Singaporean Children Study (STARS, Singapore) . The prevalence estimates of reduced VA varied from 1.2% to 6.4% in the worse eye and 0.3% to 2.7% in the better eye in these studies . However, no well‐designed studies on preschoolers have been conducted in the mainland of China, especially in urban cities, where the prevalence of reduced VA is supposed to be high.…”

Risk Factors for Amblyopia in the Vision in Preschoolers Study

“…This is consistent with findings from other preschool studies which found refractive errors to be a major cause of amblyopia. 4,6,7 In the MEPEDS study, 78% of children with amblyopia had significant refractive errors, 4 and in the Strabismus, Amblyopia and Refractive error in Singaporean Children Study (STARS), 85% of Chinese preschoolers with amblyopia had significant refractive error. 7 …”

“…1,2 Amblyopia, also referred to as “lazy eye” in colloquial terms, is a childhood vision disorder affecting 1% to 4% of preschool-aged children. 3–7 Amblyopia usually occurs unilaterally but can also be present bilaterally. Studies have shown that if amblyopia is left undetected or untreated, children are at high risk of developing further vision impairment into adulthood as a result of damage to the better seeing eye or development of a disease such as macular degeneration.…”

Prevalence of High Astigmatism in Children Aged 3 to 6 Years in Guangxi, China

“…1,2 Astigmatism in early childhood is associated with the development of amblyopia 3Y5 (especially for meridional amblyopia) and worsening myopia. 1,2 Astigmatism in early childhood is associated with the development of amblyopia 3Y5 (especially for meridional amblyopia) and worsening myopia.…”